Organisers of St John’s Shopping Centre’s Red Nose Day campaign in Perth got a bit more Comic Relief than they bargained for at their campaign launch on Saturday.
An intrepid young visitor discovered that the Alfa Romeo MiTo, filled with thousands of red play pool balls for a ‘Guess How Many Balls are in the Car’, had unwittingly been left unlocked. Trying the handle, the youngster opened the car spilling hundreds of play pools balls on to the floor and creating a farcical comedy scene that is normally reserved for Hollywood blockbusters.
Crowds gathered and cheered as several of the centre’s security team battled to gather up the balls against all odds amidst the hundred of shoppers who were in town at its busiest time of day. Many young children were seen making off with a few.
Centre manager Siobhan McConnell said, “This was a bit more comic relief than we had originally planned! The car battery was disconnected to comply with health and safety requirements. It wasn’t until the car had been filled with balls that we discovered that the passenger’s door hadn’t been locked.
“By that time, the lever to open the bonnet and reconnect the battery was buried deep in the car under all the play pool balls so the decision was made to tape up the door handle to secure it. We didn’t think for one minute that anyone would try to open the car but then children can never fail to surprise!
“It was fairly chaotic there for a while, but our security team did an excellent job of retrieving all the balls and we now have the car cordoned off so the incident cannot recur until we can resolve the situation with the door locking system.”
Siobhan added, “Either way, it definitely brought a smile to the faces of visitors to the shopping centre on Saturday. Some people were bent double with laughter. You could say we brought some much-needed comic relief to a Saturday afternoon’s shopping trip.”
The young initiator of this comedy scene, believed to be aged around five, also displayed promise as a young magician by doing a disappearing act shortly after unleashing the balls on the unsuspecting shoppers.